I started gaining weight after menopause when I was 55, and within 5 years it slowly reached 171 lbs. – my highest weight ever! I suffered from asthma due to pollution, had arthritis in my knees, high cholesterol and triglycerides, low HDL, hypertension and overall lacked energy. I had terrible pain in my knees all the time and had to use a cane for support while walking. I thought this was normal for a 60 year old… and that’s what aging does to people!

In April of 2013, I was 6’4”, 304 lbs, 29 years old, and on a road to destruction. I had acid reflux, high blood pressure, and I snored (so my wife says). I came to Learn2Lose not for a quick fix but for help in slowly taking off the weight and keeping it off.

I gave up on New Year’s resolutions a long time ago. For about 15 years, I’d made 15 or so, promising to eat right, exercise and lose 20 pounds. How did that work for me? Well, for the past five years, I haven’t made any promises. I ate, and I gained weight until I was at my highest weight ever.

I’ve always struggled with my weight. When I was 10 years old, a fellow student told me I was “fat and ugly” and since then I’ve owned that label. I have tried all kinds of weight loss techniques: from a cabbage soup diet to Weight Watchers; from working out 1.5 hours a day to starvation. Nothing provided a sustained weight loss. I came to Learn2Lose on my 45th birthday. I felt that I was in the worst shape of my life.

Early this year my co-worker started the Learn2Lose Program and even though I was skeptical, I decided to give it a try. April 11, 2013, marked the start of my weight loss journey and my first meeting with Jean Marie. The Learn2Lose Program was different because it gave me an easy place to start.

A year ago I was such a MESS! Overworked, stressed out, and overweight. That did not include the checklist of medical concerns starting with a heart problem, shingles, a frozen shoulder and to top it off, I was just beginning menopause.